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From: "fuller.tony" <>
Subject: Re: [HWE] Wastell - Mayhieu, Mayhue, Mahue
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2007 19:49:40 -0000
References: <449B98CA-B21F-4A3E-9E9A-30A2CED3A664@bigpond.net.au>


Hi Gillian

Interesting but problematical with the family names. Firstly, there are no Huguenot names as such - like Catholic Smith/Jones' there were also Protestante Smith/Jones' so whilst Wastell may be derived from a French or Walloon name, it wasn't Huguenot per se.

There are 64 references to the WASTELL family in the Hug Soc of GB Quarto Society records. It also appears that some of the Wastell family members may, at some time, been inmates of the French Hospital (La Providence) in London. The name only appears once in 120 years odd of the Hug Soc of GB's Proceedings. Interestingly, the name does not appear in the records of the Weaver's Company 1610-1730 which the Society published back in the 1930s.

And to confuse matters even more, there are variations of the name in the Hug Soc of GB's Naturalization records with the names Wassell, Wastell, Whystell, Weasell, which are all cross-referenced as being interchangeable, one as early as 8 November 1553. The name is also recorded in the Return of Strangers for the Metropolis of 1593, two brothers, brewers, being recorded as being members of the English Church and having been in England upwards of 30 years but to cause even more confusion was originally spelled USASSELL.

In addition, there are many references to the WASTELL family in the Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica (published in the 1840s) which go back way before Huguenot times and also a number of references to the name as being a Master Mason employing up to 60 other Masons (pre Huguenot but could be Walloon) in England in the 1540s, all contained in Gould's History of Freemasonry.

There was an enquiry in Huguenot Families about this family a little while ago with the name of another WASTELL researcher indicating that the family may be Walloon rather than Huguenot, originating in Tournai which was then in the Spanish Netherlands.

As for the MAYHEW family, you really cannot get to the bottom of that one - there are just so many as to make any meaningful search pointless. That said, there are several references to MAYHEW and variants in the Weaver's Company records, viz MAHIEU MAHEWE, MAHUE, LE MAYHEW.

Hope this helps in some way

Regards

Tony Fuller




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